ain't that america

I never realized how much I actually enjoyed the 4th of July until I started to work a normal job that gave you off for it. Throughout high school and college I worked at a country club and so we were the people that actually did work on the 4th. Slaving away in the insane heat for people who didn’t give a shit how hot you were, they just wanted their BBQ Chicken Sandwich (hold the bun and barbeque sauce) always made for a spectacular holiday.


The novelty of having that day off still has not worn off for me. This year marks the 2nd time I’ve actually gotten to enjoy the day and all its glory. The weekend started at 3pm on Friday at which time I headed straight to Long Beach from work. I was taking mental notes the entire time about the drive down because if I am still working here next summer and we end up with a summer share there that’s what the drive will be like every Friday. A lot of variables but I’m a planner. After a bit of traffic just at the very end I arrived at Seaside Celebrations. Though most of the weekend would be spent in Long Beach, this night was devoted to work, not play, for me and Caitlin. Seaside Celebrations is a sort of day care/camp/babysitting/drop off your kids and forget about them type of place that Caitlin’s sister Kristina owns. Friday nights are Parent’s Night Out which means they drop off the kids from 6-9 and go get drunk for three hours. 3 hours, 33 kids, a few dirty diapers and one screaming baby later we were done and it was well worth the $30 per kid. We headed right next door to the Cabana for a much needed margarita and then headed home to sleep it off.

I don’t know what we were thinking when we skipped right over Saturday for the weekend, but it was pretty low key. Sunday we headed back out to Long Beach around 3 for the 4th festivities. What could be more American than day drinking at the beach? I say nothing. We started off with some pomegranate and lime flavored Michelob Ultra Lights which I highly, highly recommend and from there on out it was smooth sailing. We met Siobhan and a few of her friends at her house and had a four hour highly entertaining dinner at her neighbors. Around 11 we headed to the bars and the rest is history. I think I can speak for everyone involved that we had a fabulous time. After a few of us went our separate ways late into the night, recapping the stories the next day while watching Hannah Montana was one of the best parts. Did I see the beach even once while I was down there? Nope. Well sort of. But that wasn’t really the point I guess. If I could be in the same place with those same people doing the exact same thing next year I wouldn’t ask for anything more.

Here’s to the novelty not wearing off next year either…